Centrifugally operated hand-carried toy projector and projectile



March 1968 R. E. JENISON 3,37

CENTRIFUGALLY OPERATED HAND-CARRIED TOY PROJECTOR AND PROJEGTILE Original Filed Sept. 13, 1965 Fig. 7 LES i5 24 I F i 9.9 Q fi l" E INVENTOR.

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Patented Mar. 19, 1968 3,373,730 CENTRIFUGALLY OPERATED HAND-CARRIED TOY PROJECTOR AND PROJECTILE Robert E. Jenison, Rte. 1, Box 74, Lopez, Wash. 98261 Continuation of application Ser. No. 308,790, Sept. 13, 1963. This application June 9, 1966, Ser. No. 562,994 6 Claims. (Cl. 124-5) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A toy projectile kit is disclosed wherein the projectile is a spinner device which has a center body and thin wing-like arms that extend from the body in opposite lateral directions and are interconnected through the body for conjoint rotation about a lengthwise axis of the arms. The spinner device is launched from a staff or baton which has an upright handle portion and a pair of gripping jaws on the top of the handle portion, one of which is rigid in construction and rigidly connected with the handle portion and the other of which is capable of flexing in relation to it. The jaws are mutually opposed to one another in a position relatively crosswise of the throwing arc of the baton, and are spaced apart to define a slot which opens to the top and sides of the baton and is adapted to receive the body of the spinner device when its arms are disposed in a position lengthwise of the slot and edgewise of its walls. In addition, there are inwardly directed lug means on the walls of the slot which engage the edges of the arms when the device is so inserted into the slot, and retain the device in the foregoing position in the slot until the flexible jaw flexes or is flexed in use, in the direction of spreading the top opening of the slot. Thereupon, the body of the spinner 'device is released through the opening and rotation is imparted to the arms by the momentary delay imposed at the edge of the arms adjacent the lug means on the rigid jaw.

This application is a continuation of my earlier filed application Ser. No. 308,790, now abandoned, entitled Toys, and filed on Sept. 13, 1963.

This invention relates to toy projectiles which are launched from a staff, baton or similar such device which is held in one hand and swung or thrown through the air in an arc. One object of the invention is to provide a combined launcher and projectile, that is, a toy projectile kit, in which the projectile is a spinner device and the launcher is designed to impart rotation to the device at the time it is launched. Another object is to provide a toy projectile kit of this nature in which the rotation of the projectile produces a sound that resembles a humming bird in flight. Other objects include the provision of a toy projectile kit of this nature in which the spinner device has a variable flight pattern due to its rotation. Still further objects will be apparent from the description of the invention which follows.

In general, these objects are realized by a toy projectile kit of my invention wherein the spinner device has a center body and thin wing-like arms that extend from the body in opposite lateral directions and are interconnected through the body for conjoint rotation about a lengthwise axis of the arms. The launcher is in the form of a staff or baton which has an upright handle portion and a pair of gripping jaws on the top of the handle portion, one of which is rigid in construction and rigidly connected with the handle portion and the other of which is capable of flexing in relation to it. The jaws are mutually opposed to one another in a position relatively cross-wise of the throwing arc, and are spaced apart to define a slot which opens to the top and sides of the baton and is adapted to receive the body of the spinner device when its arms are disposed in a position lengthwise of the slot and edgewise of its walls. In addition, there are inwardly directed lug means on the walls of the slot which engage the edges of the arms when the device is so inserted into the slot, and retain the device in the foregoing position in the slot until the flexible jaw flexes or is flexed in use, in the direction of spreading the top opening of the slot, whereupon the body of the spinner device is released through the opening and rotation is imparted to the arms by-the momentary delay imposed at the edge of the arms adjacent the lug means on the rigid jaw.

In one embodiment of my invention, the flexible jaw is given the upper position in the throwing are so that the centripetal force of the spinner device causes the jaw to flex. In another embodiment, the flexible jaw is given the lower position and the launching baton is equipped with a trigger mechanism which makes it possible to flex the jaw from a hand grip on the handle portion.

Preferably, the launching baton is also equipped w th a catapult spring which is biased by inserting the device in the slot.

These features will be better understood by referring to the accompanying drawings wherein I have illustrated the second-mentioned embodiment which includes a trigger mechanism.

FIGURE 1 in the drawing is a top view of a spinner device which isadapted to resemble a humming bird;

FIGURE 2 is a right side elevational view of the bird in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a rear elevational view of the launching baton in the starting position;

FIGURE 4 is a right side elevational view of the launching baton in FIGURE 3;

FIGURES 5 and 6 are top and right side elevational views, respectively, of an alternative form of spinner device;

FIGURE 7 is a top view of a third and simplest form of spinner device; and

FIGURES 810 are right side elevational views of alternative sections which may be used with the spinner device of FIGURE 7.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2, it will be seen that the bird has a humming bird-shaped center body -5 which is transversely apertured to receive the interconnecting shaft 3 of a pair of thin wing-like arms 2 which are rotatably journaled in the body. The tail 6 of the body helps to stabilize it in flight.

The bird is thrown from the launching baton seen in FIGURES 3 and 4. The baton has a staff-like handle 21 which tapers inwardly to a flat head 23. A pair of forked jaws 7 and 22 are rigidly secured to the head in spaced mutually opposing relationship to one another. The left hand jaw 7which is the upper jaw in usehas a rigid construction; whereas the right hand or lower jaw 22 is flexible in construction. In addition, the legs of the rigid jaw 7 have pin lugs 12 adjacent their upper ends, while the legs of the flexible jaw 22 have opposing inclined lugs 8 which are spaced from one another on the legs so as to form notches 10 for engaging the lower or leading edges of the arms 2 in use.

The trigger mechanism is housed in the handle 21. There is a transverse hole 20 in the body of the handle 21 which has an upward extension that contains a trigger slide 19 which is actuated through the hole. An car 18 on the trigger slide projects outside of the handle and provides means for attaching a cord 15 to the trigger from a cross bar 11 on the flexible jaw.

The handle is also equipped with a catapult spring 17 for increasing the thrust given to the bird. The spring has a cupped end piece 16 which is notched to receive the tail 6 of the bird.

In use, the bird is inserted tail-first into the slot 14 between the jaws, and the edges of its arms are engaged in the notches and under the lugs 12. In addition, the birds tail is engaged in the notch of the springbiased cup piece 16 so that it is firmly stationed in the slot. The user grips the handle of the launching baton as it is seen in FIGURE 3, and swings the baton in a wide are over his head or to one side of his body, while hoiding the jaw 22 relatively forward and then down. As the arc reaches its peak, or at some time after, he depresses the trigger 19 with his thumb and thus flexes the jaw 22 in the direction of spreading the top opening of the slot 14. This releases the lower edges of the arms from the notches 10' and pitches the bird head-first out of the top opening of the slot. The upper edges of the arms are momentarily tripped or delayed by the lugs 12, however, and as a consequence, rotation is imparted to the arms and the shaft. The distance and flight pattern of the bird is determined by the angle at which the bird is released. Given adequate thrust, the bird can travel thirty yards or more, there being a slight fluttering sound emanating from it all the while.

In the remaining figures, the spinner device is reduced to a simple rectangular form. It consists essentially of an elongated rectangular strip 26 which is notched at points 25 corresponding to the positions of the lugs 8 and 12. Several cross sections are possible as illustrated in FIG- URES 8-10. In addition, circular hoops 27 may be added by spokes 28 t0 the ends of the strip, to produce a more imposing visual and audio effect when the spinner device is in flight.

The spokes 28 may be finned to produce a specific type of flight. It is also contemplated that many other changes and additions may be made in and to the invention without departing from the scope and spirit of the same as defined in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A toy projectile kit comprised of a spinner device which has a center body and thin wing-like arms that extend from the body in opposite lateral directions and are interconnected through the body for conjoint rotation about a lengthwise axis of the arms, and a launching baton for throwing the device into flight, which baton has an upright handle portion and a pair of gripping jaws on the top of the handle portion, one of which is rigid in construction and rigidly connected with the handle portion and the other of which is capable of flexing in relation to the handle portion, said jaws being mutually opposed to one another in a position relatively cross-wise of the throwing arc and spaced apart to define a slot which opens to the top and sides of the baton and is adapted to receive the body of the spinner device when the arms are disposed in a position lengthwise of the slot and edgewise of its walls, and there being inwardly directed lug means on the walls of the slot which engage the edges of the arms when the device is so inserted in the slot, and retain the device in the foregoing position in the slot until the flexible jaw flexes or is flexed in use, in the direction of spreading the top opening of the slot, whereupon the body of the spinner device is released through the opening and rotation is imparted to the arms by the momentary delay imposed at the edge of the arms adjacent the lug means on the rigid jaw.

2. A toy projectile kit according to claim 1 wherein the launching baton is equipped with a trigger mechanism which makes it possible to flex the flexible jaw from a hand grip on the handle portion,

3. A toy projectile kit according to claim 1 wherein the launching baton is equipped with a catapult spring which is biased by inserting the device in the slot.

4. A toy projectile kit according to claim 1 wherein the arms of the spinner device are interconnected by a shaft which is rotatably journaled in the body of the device.

5. A launching baton for throwing a spinner device into flight, which baton has an upright handle portion and a pair of gripping jaws on the top of the handle portion, one of which is rigid in construction and rigidly connected with the handle portion and the other of which is capable of flexing in relation to the handle portion, said jaws being mutually opposed to one another in a position relatively cross-wise of the throwing arc and spaced apart to define a slot which opens to the top and sides of the baton to receive the spinner device, and there being inwardly directed lug means on the Walls of the slot to engage and retain the spinner device until said other jaw flexes in relation to the handle portion, in the direction of spreading the top opening of the slot.

6. A launching baton according to claim 5 wherein the body of the aforesaid other jaw is flexible in construction so as to be capable of flexing in relation to the handle portion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 466,257 12/ 1891 Quillfeldt 1247 1,374,420 4/1921 Berggreen 124-5 2,801,063 7/1957 OGorman 4674 X 3,001,747 9/ 1961 Hockett 46-76 X RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner.

F. BARRY SHAY, Examiner.

W. R. BROWNE, Assistant Examiner. 

